


Glorious Purpose

by rangerhitomi



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Barian World, Casual Dueling, Duel Monsters, Gen, M/M, Platonic Romance, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-03
Updated: 2015-05-03
Packaged: 2018-03-28 22:14:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3871669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rangerhitomi/pseuds/rangerhitomi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nasch has to teach Durbe how to duel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Glorious Purpose

**Author's Note:**

> Fillathon prompt from ages ago: “barians dueling casually pre-plot” (so it naturally turned into “durbe is frustrated by the concept of dueling so nasch teaches him how to do it”)

Many human traditions still puzzled Durbe, but none quite as much as Dueling.

Why the Seven Barian Lords needed to know how to duel, Durbe didn’t comprehend; how all the others seemed so  _natural_  at Dueling when he didn’t even understand the difference between an instant magic and a countertrap infuriated him. All he knew was that upon arriving in Barian World – upon awaking, upon being born, upon  _whatever_ it was that caused him to exist here – he had been holding a card, with no explanation as to what it was or why he had it or why his card was so different from the others’.

_Numbers 102:  Holy Lightning – Glorious Halo_

Sometimes he would sit out on his balcony, watching the forks of red lightning streak across the sky, wondering why his card was  _holy_ , why its chaos form was  _Unholy Lightning – Noble Demon_ , why it was  _his_ , whether there was any significance at all that it went from a holy angel to a demon upon being filled with chaos. Sometimes he wondered if it was supposed to represent him, somehow.

Nasch came to him one day and sat next to him in silence for a long while before Durbe could voice his concerns, because they were silly and unimportant;  _something_ had happened recently and Barian World was starting to experience… problems. As their leader, Nasch should have been more concerned by increased electrical storms, crumbling spires, and boiling oceans, but he  _wasn’t_. He was more concerned with Durbe – Durbe’s problems, Durbe’s woes, Durbe’s confusion and insecurities and lack of dueling skills.

“It doesn’t really matter that much,” Durbe murmured, looking anywhere but into Nasch’s eyes, but Nasch rested his hand on Durbe’s shoulder and Durbe reluctantly turned his gaze to Nasch’s.

“If it’s really bothering you, then it matters to me,” Nasch replied as he stood, pulling Durbe with him. “Come on, let’s get a couple of the others and I’ll show you how to duel. You have your deck?”

Durbe had made a deck along with the others, but he had never used it because he’d never seen the point, but he allowed Nasch to take him to the throne room and call Alit and Gilag there for a tag duel. Being partnered with Nasch was stressful; he didn’t want to let him down. Something deep in his heart – or the part of his brain that controlled emotions, anyway – desired to _protect_ Nasch, however bizarre that sounded, because Nasch was the most powerful Barian and wasn’t in any real need of protection. To have Nasch metaphorically hold his hand while he tried to learn how to play a ritualistic human game was… humiliating.

During his first turn, he stared at the cards in his hand. Alit had already summoned Burning Knuckler – Leadblow to his field with two set cards and Nasch had a Saber Shark and one set card. Two of his monsters had effects that looked like they might complement each other, so he took a breath.

“I summon… Holy Lightning – Wings to the field.” He glanced at Nasch, who nodded encouragingly. “And I use its effect to special summon… am I doing this right?”

He knew only vaguely what “special summoning” was, and it was probably an obvious game mechanic, which only made him feel more embarrassed when Nasch approached him.

Nasch rested his hand on Durbe’s lower back as he leaned over to look at Durbe’s hand. “You’re doing fine. Wings has an effect that lets you summon this one to the field.” He pointed at Holy Lightning – Books.

But Durbe had another monster in his hand. “Why not Sword?”

“It lets you discard a spell card and summon Sword to your field. Then you can Xyz summon with it.”

Right, Xyz summon. He could summon… Glorious Halo. Nasch murmured encouragingly as Durbe put a spell in the graveyard and brought his Over-Hundred Numbers to the field.

“Appear, Numbers 102! Holy Lightning – Glorious Halo!” It was the first time he had ever summoned it, and as it materialized, Durbe felt its power course through him; he could feel the connection he had to  _his_  card, like it was part of his very soul.

And yet, there was still something missing, something  _important_ , but Durbe couldn’t quite grasp it.

Across the field, Alit sighed dramatically. “Is that  _it_ , Durbe?”

Durbe turned to Nasch in confusion. “Is it not a good card?”

Nasch’s eyes crinkled, his hand patting Durbe’s back as though reassuring a child. “It’s a great card. I think what Alit means is-”

Alit held his arms out wide. “You gotta have a cool thing to say when you summon it! Like, you know, Mizael’s… what is it again, Gilag?”

The larger Barian scratched his chin. “Something like ‘roar through the universe, something dramatic, tremble before my might,’ I don’t remember.”

Alit laughed but Nasch narrowed his eyes in a frown. “Mizael is a proud warrior and I’m sure he put a lot of thought into his summoning ritual.”

There was absolutely no reason to have to  _have_ a summoning ritual, in Durbe’s opinion, but if it would appease Alit and Gilag…

He cleared his throat. “Come forth… Heaven’s warrior… and let your, um, arrow of light pierce the darkness?”

A long pause followed before Alit snorted with quiet laughter again and Gilag stared intently at the ground as though also trying not to laugh. Even his Numbers turned to look at him, and he swore it was wearing a skeptical look. Durbe crossed his arms and scowled.

“Am I to be ridiculed for  _trying_?”

Nasch wrapped his arm around Durbe’s shoulders. “It sounded more like a, ah, human comic book character’s catchphrase than something intended to be intimidating.”

“Then what do I say?”

“Hmm, well…” Nasch screwed up his eyes in thought. “Your Numbers represents  _you_. It’s… part of your soul.”

He couldn’t think of anything that represented his  _soul_  that he could turn into an adequate summoning chant. Did he even have a characteristic that defined him?

“You’re probably the most level-headed of all of us,” Nasch said quietly, and it was only loud enough for Durbe to hear now. “You have a strong sense of justice, of loyalty, and you always think things through rationally.”

Durbe turned to look at Nasch, whose eyes were uncharacteristically soft. He looked at Durbe this way sometimes, usually when they were alone, and that _feeling_  overwhelmed him again, the feeling that he was  _missing_ something. The feeling of familiarity, like he and Nasch were  _supposed_ to be here, fighting together.

He took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes. “The heavenly light that pierces the darkening galaxies, illuminate the truth! Bathe us in your wisdom, Numbers 102, Holy Lightning – Glorious Halo!”

The smile in Nasch’s eyes was enough to make Durbe feel more confident, and even though he made two major misplays and had to be bailed out by Nasch at the expense of Nasch’s own life points, they emerged victorious. When Alit and Gilag bade them a good duel and headed off, Nasch ascended the steps to his throne and sat heavily, motioning for Durbe to join him.

It was the first time Durbe had ever been invited to sit on the throne, and he had a feeling he belonged at Nasch’s side and not on his throne. As he lowered himself to the dais at Nasch’s feet, the lord grabbed him by the hand and tugged him to his feet again.

“By my side, Durbe,” he said wearily, and Durbe relented, perching tentatively on the edge of the soft red cushion. He waited for Nasch to speak first, because he didn’t know what this was about and it would be out of his place to ask, and finally Nasch glanced over. “ _Illuminate the truth_?”

Durbe dropped his gaze to his hands. The words had slipped from him, and he barely understood why he had said what he had said. “I’ve been struggling with this feeling lately,” he admitted softly. “That there’s… an incompleteness to my existence. That there’s just something I can’t remember. An absolute truth I can’t quite…” He held out his hand, clenching it. “Can’t quite  _grasp_. And it has something to do with my card.”

Nasch was quiet. Maybe he was mulling it over, or trying to figure out how to tell Durbe  _you’ve lost your mind a bit, my friend_ , but instead he looked up at the ceiling and narrowed his eyes. “Do you feel as though you don’t belong here, Durbe?”

“Do  _you_?”

The lord smiled and bowed his head. “Sometimes. But,” he turned to Durbe, “other times I know I’m here to protect those who mean the most to me.”

“I understand that.” Durbe pulled out his deck and sighed. “I have an overwhelming feeling that I am meant to protect you. But how am I to protect you when I don’t understand this… dueling thing?”

Nasch reached across and wrapped his hand around Durbe’s. “It will come to you. And I will help you. Soon your powers and skills will be worthy of you.”

Durbe’s eyes crinkled in a smile. “Thank you, Nasch.”

“Any time, my friend. Now let’s take a look.”

He started rattling off card combinations –  _maybe you should consider the Valhalla continuous spell to get multiple Fairy monsters on the field at once to summon Glorious Halo; Divine Wrath is a good countertrap for your Graveyard effects; we should see what kinds of Xyz monsters we can add to your Extra Deck_ – and Durbe listened attentively. He wasn’t going to drag Nasch down ever again, and he would fulfil his purpose to protect Nasch, whatever was at stake for the future of Barian World.


End file.
